1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a capacitively filtered Virtual Graphics Adapter (VGA) connector. More generally, the invention relates to an arrangement for mounting electrical components between electrical contacts in an electrical connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A practical arrangement for utilizing chip capacitors in multiple-pin electrical connectors, in order to provide a ground path for high frequency transients present in the electrical signal contacts of the connector, was first proposed in the U.S.Pat. No. 4,500,159 (Briones). Previous capacitive filtering arrangements had required relatively expensive monolithic capacitor filters or individual filter sleeves for each contact. In contrast, the Briones connector utilized a completely different structure, starting with an insert having a plurality of contact passages and a plurality of recesses in communication with the contact passages, the recesses permitting individual chip capacitors to be inserted such that one electrode on each capacitor electrically contacts one of the signal contacts. Connection to ground in the Briones connector was provided by a ground member or clip which also served to resiliently bias the chip capacitors against the contacts, thus avoiding the need for soldering of the filters to the contacts, a finger on the clip engaging the second electrode on each of the capacitors. A second embodiment described in the Briones patent varied this arrangement by providing the biasing spring on the contacts themselves.
The basic Briones design has since been adapted for a variety of purposes other than the original multi-pin filter connector specifically disclosed in the Briones patent. For example, chip capacitors biased by a grounding clip against a conductive shell have been used for the purpose of capacitive decoupling in coaxial BNC and TNC connectors, and the Briones design has also been adapted for use in telephone jacks. A capacitively decoupled coaxial connector was disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,221 (Kozloff), and subsequently in U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,982 (Fleming). These designs were in turn based, at least in part, on design concepts proposed in the Briones patent and subsequently developed in a line of BNC and TNC connectors offered by Amphenol Corp. In the field of telephone-type jacks, the basic Briones arrangement was modified by using tombstone chip capacitors, in which one electrode of the capacitor chip is soldered to the signal contacts as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,695,115 (Talend) and 4,772,224 (Talend).
All of the designs described above share a significant limitation. They are each adapted to electrically connect the chip capacitor directly between an external ground and the contacts of the connector (or a single contact in the case of a coaxial connector). Use of the basic Briones design in situations where external grounding, to the shell of the connector or directly to an external panel or device, is undesirable or impractical has heretofore not been considered.
The present invention provides a solution to this problem by modifying the original Briones concept to enable the ground clip to provide an electrical connection to a ground contact in the connector, rather than to the shell. While the invention is described specifically in the context of VGA connectors, for which it is especially suitable, it may of course be used in any connector having two or more electrical contacts, at least one of which needs to be connected to another via an electrical component.